The art of jewelry display relates to the showing of certain precious commodities in a glass showcase to customers for retail sale purposes. Watches and rings are considered to be among the commodities shown in this manner.
Sales of jewelry including rings increase and decrease sharply in accordance with particular seasons of the year. In particular, during the Christmas season when customer demand is strong, a large number of rings are in inventory and many are displayed in showcases by retailers. Immediately after Christmas, customer demand drops precipitously and merchandise levels are kept low.
Rings displayed for retail sale in glass showcases are mounted on "steps", or "elevations", which in turn rest on the floor of the glass showcase. A number of elevations are positioned adjoining one another. An easel, or tilt support, is generally placed under the elevation at its rear edge so as to present the elevation to customers at a slant. The easels are generally of slightly different sizes so that the elevations are presented at different angular slants. A first type of elevation used for rings in seasons of high merchandise levels has a topside and a back side. The topside is a level platform covered with a fabric and having a number of slots for mounting rings in the season of high merchandise level. The back side has no function and is provided with a backing, generally of paper, which covers over the edges of the fabric covering of the elevation. Because merchants want to avoid having a number of empty ring slots in the seasons of low merchandise levels, a second type of elevation is used. The second type of elevation also has a level topside covered in fabric and has a number of ring slots fewer in number than the topside of the first type of elevation. Like the first type of elevation, the second type of elevation has a backside having no function and provided with a backing, generally of paper, which covers over the edges of the fabric. The second type of elevation has fewer ring slots and thus presents fewer rings than the first type of elevation, although the elevation has all the ring slots filled with rings. Thus, the retailer is able to show an artful display of rings at times of both high and low merchandise levels.
The problem with this system is that two completely different sets of elevations are needed by merchants over the course of a year. One or the other of the sets of elevations must be stored away during their time of non-use, a procedure that has several disadvantages. The major disadvantage is that the environment of the showcase must be disturbed at every change of selling season. Another disadvantage is that the stored elevations may be misplaced and are not available when they are needed. Yet another disadvantage is that convenient space must be found to store the unused sets of elevations.